This is an article written by Lucy Dixon which appeared in the magazine Dogs Monthly, February 2009.

‘Home Improvements’- Lucy Dixon’s top tips for creating a canine comfort zone.

As a result of the property market slow-down, more of us are making home improvements instead of moving house. when getting your first dog it is orth making sure your interior design revamp is both stylish and dog-friendly.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that owning a dog doesn’t go hand in hand with having a spotless home. Our best friends do have a tendency to make their presece felt (in my Henry’s case, with muddy paw prints). But, if you’re considering a new kitchen or bathroom, or simply planning a home makeover, there are things you can do to make your home easy to clean, as well as comfortable for both you and your dog.

FLOORING

If you’re planning on changing your floors the chances are you’ll be looking at laminate or real wood flooring, which has soared in popularity in recent years. It’s certainly easy to clean should your dog have an accident indoors, but it’s not necessarily the most dog-friendly choice- particularly if you have a larger breed.

Vet Michelle Shanson, author of Puppy Power (available from VeterinaryBlonde.com), explains: ‘Carpet is better for bigger dogs as wooden floors can pose a problem with grip. Larger dogs, over 12kg, find it harder to stop on slippery floors and are also more prone to hip and joint problems when they get older- skidding around is only going to make this worse.’

There’s a huge choice of flooring materials on the market, from tiles and real wood to carpet and vinyl, so there should be a material to suit your house and your dog. If you opt for carpet, then choose something durable and consider a patterned option- this can hide a multitude of sins inbetween vacuuming.

FURNITURE

As with flooring, the best furniture for dog owners depends on what breed and size of dog is in the house.

Michelle says: ‘If you’ve got a Great Dane it’s unlikely you’ll want him on the sofa, so you really can go for any type of sofa. Owners of smaller dogs might allow them on the furniture, in which case go for a natural fabric that is easy to wash.’

Removable covers that are machine-washable could be a good idea if your dog is allowed on the sofa. Any fabrics that have long strands, such as chenille, are a bad idea as claws can get stuck in the threads. Leather is also best avoided, purely because dogs can easily scratch or tear the material.

Think about the height of any coffee tables too, as waggy tails are often at the right height to send any ornaments (or glasses of wine) flying!

‘The most important point with furniture is that you should have plenty of storage space,’ says Michelle. ‘Make sure you have enough drawers or cupboards so you can put things away, out of the reach of any curious dogs. I’ve seen lots of dogs who have eaten ‘foreign objects’ which can easily be avoided by putting clutter away’ she adds.

If you’re putting up shelves, majke them high enough so your dog can’t help himself to whatever is on them.

WALLS

If you’re giving a room a fresh coat of paint then choose something eco-friendly. Any healthy, happy adult dog should not be chewing your walls to bits, but there’s no harm in opting for paints made using natural materials. Standard paints are made using synthetic ingredients that can be harmful to your health and the environment.

KITCHEN AND BATHROOM

Any kitchen can be made dog-friendly with minimal effort and cost, simply by adding childproof locks to the cupboard doors ( it can’t just be my dog who worked out how to get in the cupboard and help himself to a whole packet of biscuits). There’s various options available, including catches and magnets.

A dog- proof kitchen bin is also a good idea to put a stop to any midnight scavenging.

A simple, and cheap, addition to the bathroom can also make life easier for dog owners: a shower attachment to fit to the bath taps.

If you’re looking to update your whole bathroom, then a wet room style is both practical and fashionable. These showers have no tray to trip over and could make bathing your dog much easier.

As Michelle says: ‘A wet room is a brilliant idea for big dogs particularly. It can be dangerous, for both dog and owner if you struggle to lift your dog into the bath, especially if he is nervous. You could make bath-time fun with a walk-in shower aand turn it into more of a game. Just be careful not to get water in his ears.’

GARDENS

The list of plants that are potentially harmful to dogs is absolutely enormous (see Dogs Trust) and I haven’t heard of most of them. It’s certainly daunting for anyone looking at introducing any new plants into their garden.

Michelle says bulbs can be particularly dangerous: ‘ Daffodil flowers and bulbs are dangerous to dogs, and all bulbs should be kept out of harm’s way before planting. Conkers are also potentially dangerous, because they are poisonous and can also cause an obstruction if swallowed. other plants to avoid include rhododendrons, misletoe and holly.’

Plants with thorns or other spiky bits can injure dogs’ ears and eyes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have rose bushes- train your dog not to go on the flower beds. When treating your lawn or plants with any feed or weed treatments, make sure you opt for a pet-friedly product and follow the instructions.

HEATING

The year- round warm climate we create in our homes with central heating is reckoned to make some dogs moult excessively. And, short of living without heating, there’s no easy solution to this.

Michelle points out that it won’t cause your dog any harm to live with a lack of seasons. ‘As long as dogs are groomed regularly to avoid a build-up of dead hair, then it shouldn’t be a problem. If your dog has a dry coat then add evening primrose oil to his food, as this will help keep it in good condition.’

CLEANING

So, you’ve finished revamping your home’s decor and want to keep it that way. There’s plenty of products available that will help ensure your home remains beautiful, many of which are specifically aimed at pet owners.

Although I initially thought it was just a marketing gimmick, the pet hair-removing vacuum cleaner that I have really is a miracle worker. Upholstery brushes designed to remove pet hair are also pretty good.

There are also dog-specific cleaning products on the market, although any stain remover should do the job, as long as you pick the right one for the surface, whether it’s the carpet, rug or sofa. JML has an excellent range of cleaning and household products that really do the job. I’m extremely biased when it comes to my dog, and don’t think he smells doggy at all. Love is blind and and apparently, without a sense of smell, after all. But if you’re more realistic than me, then get your hands on a plug-in air freshener to eliminate any poochy pongs.

WHEN THE DAMAGE IS DONE

Finally, every dog owner knows that accidents happen, particularly with young dogs and puppies. So, is ther anything you can do when your dog has chewed the chair leg or the bottom of the kitchen cabinets?

Plastic Surgeon is a nationwide company that offers a cosmetic repair service and says there is no household damage it can’t fix. The company specialises in ‘magically’ repairing anything from bath tubs to car interiors and this includes any dog-inflicted damage.

Copyright Lucy Dixon

Lucy Dixon is a journalist specialising in travel writing. She lives in Bedfordshire with her Cocker Spaniel, Henry.

Please visit her website!

Just after the Christmas break I had a patient called Boris- an 18month old cat. He was presented with vomiting and a reluctance to eat and he was lethargic. Boris was obviously dehydrated and when I opened his mouth I could see some purple cotton-like string stuck around the base of his tongue. He had a painful abdomen and a slight fever. I admitted Boris to remove the string I knew was anchored around his tongue and going all the way through his stomach and into his intestines. Boris had been sick for four days since Christmas Eve.

Where was the string from?- It had been used to tie the Christmas cards together to hang them as Christmas decorations. Boris’s owners had seen him playing with the string and just thought it was cute- they didn’t realise what a disaster was happening.

Boris was immediately put on an intravenous drip to start correcting his dehydration. When I anaesthetised him I could see the string from around his tongue going down his oesophagus- there was a large knot of it. As I cut the string away from his tongue it disappeared down to his stomach.

We prepared Boris for surgery and I made an abdominal incision to have a look….

All the lymph nodes in his abdomen were enlarged and inflamed and his stomach and intestines appeared inflamed. His intestines were thickened along one edge and had lost their natural ‘flexibility’, instead they felt rigid.

It took me a total of two hours and multiple incisions in his intestines and one incision in his stomach to remove all the string. The string was deeply embedded into the tissue of his intestinal wall and you can’t just pull it out through one incision because it causes a ‘consitina’ effect.

Boris stayed in the hospital for three days in total. He wasn’t allowed anything to eat or drink for the first 24 hours. His dehydration was corrected with the intravenous drip which was continued for another two days.

He was obviously given plenty of pain-killers!

On the second day he was started on liquid food and I knew he was feeling better because he was really hungry!

Boris didn’t get back onto solid food for a whole week.

He is back to normal now, eating well and playing again, he hasn’t been sick at all and is passing normal motions. His abdominal wound has healed well and now he just needs his hair to grow back!

In total his owners spent in the region of £700- string-tied cards proved to be a very expensive Christmas decoration!

Boris could have died from this. At least I got to him before his intestines perforated.

Unfortunately Boris will now have scars in his intestines, causing narrowing, where I made the incisions and he will have scarring throughout his abdomen from the intervention. I hope this doesn’t cause problems in his future but this is a recognised potential complication from any intestinal surgery.

So this mishap was a welfare issue for Boris and a stressful, upsetting and expensive incident for his owners. Please protect your cats from this potential hazard…

The moral of the story is DON’T GIVE ANY STRING-LIKE OBJECTS TO YOUR CAT!!!

Copyright ©Shanson Ltd 2009

Unfortunately the number of animals being taken to rescue centres is increasing every year. Why are pets being abandoned or relinquished?
The reasons for this are varied and include the owner experiencing financial or personal difficulties, moving into rented accommodation not allowing pets, changes in circumstance resulting in not enough time for the pet, the pet becoming ill or having behavioural problems, new children in the household, owners developing pet allergies, a new pet not getting on with existing pets.

Unfortunately, sometimes people just buy pets on a whim and then realise a few months later that they made a mistake and take the pet for re homing.

Pets being taken to rescue centres are often young and not neutered (de-sexed), usually having only been owned for 7-12months. Many of these pets are taken on from friends with unwanted animals, often they have never been to a vet and many of the dogs have never had any obedience training.
In my opinion, not training and neutering your pet is just irresponsible.

Rescue centres obviously make a huge effort to rehome these pets in a responsible fashion.
However the sad truth is that many are just on ‘death row’ and end up being euthanased. Often euthanasia boils down to inadequate funds to look after the animals rather then the animals having severe behavioural or veterinary problems.

If you want a pet, PLEASE go to a rescue centre and see if there is an animal to adopt that will suit YOUR circumstances.  Lets reduce the number of animals ending up euthanased for the wrong reasons.